One of the Many reasons we Homeschool
While there are children who very much need support and care when it comes to their mental and social issues, there seems to be an explosion in the number of children labeled with ADHD and there seems to be a push to get as many of them on medication as possible. I have read about friends having to fight teachers and school systems who just want their children to be medicated, not actually treated. They want to drug these kids into sitting compliantly. No one seems to want to talk about that child’s needs and how to meet them, just how to get them to sit down and shut up and be one of the faceless numbers. I was one of those kids, thankfully my parents didn’t drug me. It wasn’t as popular then though. They tried to fix jumpy little kids by taking the things away from them that might actually have helped, like recess time!
Thankfully there are some great schools these days that understand the importance of recess. In Finland schools students are sent out for recess between classes and as a nation they know it is very important that kids get time to wiggle and giggle and sing and run. Is it any wonder Finland is kicking our behinds (USA) in education?
Plus: There is no long term evidence of improvement of children taking Ritalin. No improvement in academic outcome can be attributed solely to its effects, no decrease in anti-social behavior or arrest rates, and only small effects on learning and achievement. (Source: James M. Swanson, Keith McBurnett, “Effect of Stimulant Medication on Children with Attention Deficit Disorder: A ‘Review of Reviews'”)
So one of the reasons we homeschool, one of the many reasons, is that we get the chance to let our kids take the breaks they need to from learning in a seat to move as nature intended them to. We are free from a system that has been pushing drugs on kids to treat symptoms in children who may or may not actually need them and making little to no effort to help those same children in any other way.
Good for you!!! It’s disturbing how acceptable it’s become, in schools, to drug children instead of letting them just be children.
This was the last straw for us. The second to last day of school, the principal of my daughters’ school pulled me in her office and said she wanted us to get the girls tested for a number of mental disorders and get them medicated as soon as possible and put into a special class. Because my daughters wanted to collect flowers while waiting for me to show up to pick them up, and because after thirty or so minutes, they feel they need to get up for a little bit…
I am so sorry to hear it. Your daughters sound lovely and maybe only special because they listen to their bodies and heart. You know them best and I am glad your not blindly just doing what that school is pushing.